Book of Commandments, 1833

18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris, 27 Mar...

Located in northeastern Pennsylvania. Area settled, by 1787. Organized 1809. Population in 1830 about 340. Population in 1840 about 520. Contained Harmony village (no longer in existence). Josiah Stowell hired JS to help look for treasure in area, Oct. 1825...

18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris, 27 Mar...

18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris, 27 Mar...

has desired a witness from my hand, that my servant Joseph has got the things of which he has testified, and borne record that he has received of me.

2 And now, behold, this shall you say unto him:—I the Lord am God, and I have given these things unto my servant Joseph, and I have commanded him that he should stand as a witness of these things, nevertheless I have caused him that he should enter into a covenant with me, that he should not show them except I command him, and he has no power over them except I grant it unto him; and he has a gift to translate the book, and I have commanded him that he shall pretend to no other gift, for I will grant him no other gift.

3 And verily I say unto you, that wo shall come unto the inhabitants of the earth, if they will not hearken unto my words, for, behold, if they will not believe my words, they would not believe my servant Joseph, if it were possible that he could show them all things. O ye unbelieving, ye stiffnecked generation, mine anger is kindled against you!

4 Behold, verily I say, I have reserved the things of which I have spoken, which I have intrusted to my servant, for a wise purpose in me, and it shall be made known unto future generations: But this generation shall have my words, yea and the testi [p. 10]

18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris, 27 Mar...

Located in northeastern Pennsylvania. Area settled, by 1787. Organized 1809. Population in 1830 about 340. Population in 1840 about 520. Contained Harmony village (no longer in existence). Josiah Stowell hired JS to help look for treasure in area, Oct. 1825...

18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris, 27 Mar...

18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris, 27 Mar...

has desired a witness from my hand, that my servant Joseph has got the things of which he has testified, and borne record that he has received of me.

2 And now, behold, this shall you say unto him:—I the Lord am God, and I have given these things unto my servant Joseph, and I have commanded him that he should stand as a witness of these things, nevertheless I have caused him that he should enter into a covenant with me, that he should not show them except I command him, and he has no power over them except I grant it unto him; and he has a gift to translate the book, and I have commanded him that he shall pretend to no other gift, for I will grant him no other gift.

3 And verily I say unto you, that wo shall come unto the inhabitants of the earth, if they will not hearken unto my words, for, behold, if they will not believe my words, they would not believe my servant Joseph, if it were possible that he could show them all things. O ye unbelieving, ye stiffnecked generation, mine anger is kindled against you!

4 Behold, verily I say, I have reserved the things of which I have spoken, which I have intrusted to my servant, for a wise purpose in me, and it shall be made known unto future generations: But this generation shall have my words, yea and the testi [p. 10]

Church leaders took the first formal step toward printing the Book of Commandments
at a conference of elders at Hiram

Area settled by immigrants from Pennsylvania and New England, ca. 1802. Located in northeastern Ohio about twenty-five miles southeast of Kirtland. Population in 1830 about 500. Population in 1840 about 1,100. JS lived in township at home of John and Alice...

, Ohio, on 1 November 1831. The minutes for this conference
open with a request from Oliver Cowdery

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

Area settled largely by emigrants from New England and New Jersey, by 1788. Village founded and surveyed adjacent to site of Fort Washington, 1789. First seat of legislature of Northwest Territory, 1790. Incorporated as city, 1819. Developed rapidly as shipping...

Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. Point of departure for Santa Fe Trail. Population in 1831 about 300. Mormon population by summer...

, Jackson County, Missouri, where he and his family settled in
early 1832.3

JS History, vol. A-1, 154. After the Independenceprinting office was destroyed in summer 1833, Phelps claimed that five thousand pounds of type had been lost, which would have been about five times
the amount normally on hand in a printing office at this time. (Declaration, in Missouri Circuit Court [5th Circuit], Feb. 1834 term, Phelps and Cowdery v. Olmstead et al., Jackson County Records Center, Independence, MO; Stower, Printer’s Grammar, 57, as excerpted in Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices, 1:232.)

Stower, Caleb. The Printer’s Grammar; or, Introduction to the Art of
Printing: Containing a Concise History of the Art, with the Improvements in the
Practice of Printing, for the Last Fifty Years. London: Caleb Stower,
1808. As excerpted in Richard-Gabriel Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing
Practices and the Iron Handpress, 2 vols. (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll
Press, 2004).

27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...

purchased a lot near the center of town upon which the building that likely became the printing office

JS revelations, dated 20 July and 1 Aug. 1831, directed establishment of LDS church’s first printing office in Independence, Missouri. Dedicated by Bishop Edward Partridge, 29 May 1832. Located on Lot 76, on Liberty Street just south of courthouse square....

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

shortly before Phelps, wrote to JS on 28 January 1832 that they
were nearly ready to begin printing and hoped that Martin Harris

18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris, 27 Mar...

The following month, Phelps issued a printed prospectus for an official church newspaper
to be titled The Evening and the Morning Star,6

The prospectus for The Evening and the Morning Star, dated 23 February 1832 and no longer extant,
was included as the first item in the first issue of the later, Ohio-based Evening and Morning Star.
(William W. Phelps, The Evening and the Morning Star Prospectus, Evening and Morning Star, June 1832 [Jan. 1835], 1–2; see also Phelps, “Short History,” [2]–[3]; and “To Man,” The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832, [6].)

indicating that by this time the press was
functional despite a shortage of paper.7

The next known publication of the press was a political circular (no longer extant) dated 21 May
1832. (Lilburn W. Boggs, “To the People of Missouri,” Missouri Intelligencer, 2 June 1832, [2]; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:33.)

French explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Northeastern portion maintained as part of Connecticut, 1786, and called Connecticut Western...

to
purchase printing paper—by credit if necessary—and JS and his associates to transport it
to Missouri. They did so, purchasing paper in Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia),
around the first of April 1832 and arriving in Missouri later that month.8

Revelation, 20 Mar. 1832, in Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; Newel K. Whitney, Statement,
ca. 1842, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, CHL; Minute Book 2, 30 Apr. 1832. It is unknown
exactly how much paper JS and his associates brought to Missouri, but Phelps and Cowdery listed the
total amount of paper lost in the July 1833 destruction of the printing office at one hundred reams. If
Phelps and Cowdery’s accounting is accurate, it is unclear whether the listed one hundred reams of paper
was only the amount that was lost or was the total amount of paper brought to Missouri. (Declaration, in Missouri Circuit Court [5th Circuit], Feb. 1834 term, Phelps and Cowdery v. Olmstead et al., Jackson County Records Center, Independence, MO.)

In May, after JS
had departed on the return journey to Ohio, Phelps, Cowdery, John Whitmer

27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...

, and several
others met at the printing office, which was located south of the courthouse

Independence became county seat for Jackson Co., 29 Mar. 1827. First courthouse, single-story log structure located on lot 59 at intersection of Lynn and Lexington Streets, completed, Aug. 1828. Second courthouse, two-story brick structure located at center...

Active publishing began the
following month, when issues of the Star first began to appear. Around this same time,
the Mormon printing office also began to publish issues of the Upper Missouri Advertiser, a
community newspaper.10

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

in April 1832, the Literary Firm met.
Acting in their capacity as overseers of church publications, the firm decided to reduce the original print run of ten thousand copies to three thousand, a decision probably based on
the amount of paper that had been purchased and brought to Missouri.11

Minute Book 2, 30 Apr. 1832. Assuming that the Book of Commandments was to comprise six
gatherings (with two identical gatherings printed on each sheet), and assuming five hundred sheets per
ream, a print run of ten thousand copies of the Book of Commandments would require sixty reams,
whereas a print run of three thousand copies would require eighteen reams. Paper was expensive and in
short supply and would need to be divided among several printing projects. Besides the Book of
Commandments and the two newspapers, an almanac and a hymnal were also planned (but ultimately
neither was published in Missouri). It is possible JS and his companions purchased the paper on credit,
which could suggest they did not have sufficient funds to purchase the amount of paper originally contemplated.
(See Revelation, 20 Mar. 1832, in Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.)

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...

—“to review the Book of Commandmants [that is, the “Book of Commandments
& Revelations,” or Revelation Book 1] & select for printing such as shall be deemed by
them proper, as dictated by the Spirit & make all necessary verbal corrections.”12

Minute
Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter
Day Saints,” 1838,
1842, 1844. CHL.
Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

The committee
acted upon that instruction by both selecting and revising manuscripts, using
Revelation Book 1 as their primary source text. The committee did not include all items
found in Revelation Book 1; some items therein were explicitly marked for exclusion from
the Book of Commandments, and some others bear no such mark but were nonetheless
excluded.13

Revelation Book 1 / “A Book of
Commandments and Revelations of the Lord Given to Joseph the Seer and Others by
the Inspiration of God and Gift and Power of the Holy Ghost Which Beareth
Re[c]ord of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost Which Is One God Infinite and
Eternal World without End Amen,” 1831–1835. CHL. Also available in Robin Scott
Jensen, Robert J. Woodford, and Steven C. Harper, eds., Manuscript
Revelation Books, facsimile edition, first volume of the Revelations
and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by
Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City:
Church Historian’s Press, 2009).

The title page of the Book of Commandments indicates that the book was
printed by W. W. Phelps & Co., and while Phelps is traditionally recognized as the publisher
and printer, all three individuals appointed to review the revelations contributed to
the work of printing the Book of Commandments.14

Late in his life Phelps stated, “I was ordained and appointed to take the lead in printing, as printer
to the church . . . with Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer as my assistants.” (Phelps, “Short History,” [2]–[3]; see also Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William W. Phelps, [Clay Co., MO], [30 Mar. 1834], in Cowdery, Letterbook, 36–38; and Declaration, in Missouri Circuit Court [5th Circuit], Feb. 1834 term, Phelps and Cowdery v. Olmstead et al., Jackson County Records Center, Independence, MO.)

Many of the revelations in the Book of Commandments appear in Revelation Book 1
with editing marks that were made in preparation for the publication. Revelation Book 1 was
not, however, the sole source for the Book of Commandments. One revelation and part of
another that appear in the Book of Commandments do not appear in Revelation Book 1;
the manuscript sources for these revelations are unknown.15

A Book of
Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ, Organized according
to Law, on the 6th of April, 1830. Zion [Independence], MO: W. W.
Phelps, 1833. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr.,
Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2:
Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations
series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee,
Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s
Press, 2011).

Furthermore, some revelations
that appeared in the Book of Commandments had been printed earlier in The Evening and
the Morning Star. When revelations had already been printed in the Star, the editors appear
to have used the newspaper, rather than Revelation Book 1, to set type for the Book of
Commandments.16

The incomplete Book of Commandments contains most of the revelations known
to have been dictated by JS through
September 1831, organized largely chronologically.
Seven items that were dictated
before September 1831 and copied into
Revelation Book 1 were not published in
the Book of Commandments.17

Revelation Book 1 / “A Book of
Commandments and Revelations of the Lord Given to Joseph the Seer and Others by
the Inspiration of God and Gift and Power of the Holy Ghost Which Beareth
Re[c]ord of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost Which Is One God Infinite and
Eternal World without End Amen,” 1831–1835. CHL. Also available in Robin Scott
Jensen, Robert J. Woodford, and Steven C. Harper, eds., Manuscript
Revelation Books, facsimile edition, first volume of the Revelations
and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by
Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City:
Church Historian’s Press, 2009).

The apparent intent of editorial work
on the revelations—and in any case, the
result of that work—was primarily to polish
the revelations for publication. Most of
the editorial revisions were in the nature
of copyediting changes: inserting versification;
standardizing language; correcting
punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and
spelling. A smaller subset of revisions was
significant, usually involving the addition
of a phrase or the substitution of a word or
two.18

In a few cases, revisions served to
update the revelations to reflect changes
that had occurred in church government or
policy since the time the revelations were
first dictated, but such updating was not
done systematically. In the majority of
cases, revelations that could have been updated
were not. For example, although the first ordinations to the office of high priest had
occurred in June 1831,19

Minute
Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter
Day Saints,” 1838,
1842, 1844. CHL.
Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

the editors preparing the Book of Commandments for publication
did not introduce the term “high priest” into revelations predating June 1831 where it would
have been logical to do so. A 9 February 1831 revelation, for instance, states that the bishop is to be assisted in certain duties by the elders. In 1835, as part of an effort to update the
revelations to reflect changes in church government and policy, this language was expanded
to clarify that the high priests are also to assist in these duties.20

A Book of Commandments, for the Government of the
Church of Christ, Organized according to Law, on the 6th of April,
1830. Zion [Independence], MO: W. W. Phelps, 1833. Also available in
Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds.,
Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations.
Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith
Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman
Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).

The update presumably
could have been made earlier, for inclusion in the Book of Commandments, but was not.
In fact, the office of high priest is not mentioned anywhere in the Book of Commandments.
More systematic updating of the revelations to reflect changes in church government
and policy occurred two years later in connection with the publication of the Doctrine and
Covenants.

Printing standards of the day called for printers to recopy heavily edited manuscripts
to provide a clean copy for typesetting.21

Some of the text of Revelation Book 1 was almost
certainly recopied before the Book of Commandments was typeset, as evidenced by differences
between the text in the marked-up Revelation Book 1 and the final printed Book of
Commandments.22

The mark-up of Revelation Book 1, including versification, does not always match the final version
of the text printed in the Book of Commandments. While it is technically possible that the discrepancies
between the texts as edited in Revelation Book 1 and as printed in the Book of Commandments could
have resulted from corrections introduced in the galley proof stage (the stage at which the typeset page
was proofed for the last time), the amount of labor that would be involved in changing versification and
paragraphing in galleys strongly suggests that these discrepancies were introduced on an interim copy
rather than in galleys.

Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. Point of departure for Santa Fe Trail. Population in 1831 about 300. Mormon population by summer...

JS revelations, dated 20 July and 1 Aug. 1831, directed establishment of LDS church’s first printing office in Independence, Missouri. Dedicated by Bishop Edward Partridge, 29 May 1832. Located on Lot 76, on Liberty Street just south of courthouse square....

was small enough that it likely carried only one size of
paper. Considering this, the Book of Commandments was likely printed on royal-size
paper, which measures approximately 25 × 20 inches (64 × 51 cm), because The Evening
and the Morning Star was printed on royal quarto (a royal-size sheet folded twice, yielding
four leaves approximately 12½ × 10 inches [32 × 25 cm] each).23

MacKellar, American Printer, 271, as excerpted in Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices, 1:459. The paper size for The Evening and the Morning Star was noted in its prospectus, and
measurements of extant copies confirm that the paper was indeed printed on royal quarto–size paper.
(William W. Phelps, The Evening and the Morning Star Prospectus, Evening and Morning Star, June 1832 [Jan. 1835], 1–2.)

Had the Book of Commandments,
which was printed in sextodecimo format, been printed on royal-size paper with a
sheetwise technique (one gathering per sheet), the process would have yielded sixteen leaves
measuring approximately 6¼ × 5 inches (16 × 13 cm) each, a page size significantly larger
than was needed for the Book of Commandments, which measures approximately 4½ × 3⅛
inches (11 × 8 cm) (allowing for small variations in page size for different copies). This is not
an impossibility, because the excess paper around the margins could have been trimmed.
However, some untrimmed or partially untrimmed extant copies of the Book of
Commandments have roughly half an inch (1 cm) of excess paper (beyond the point where
the edge should be trimmed) on the bottom of the leaves, suggesting a far more likely scenario:
If a work-and-turn technique (printing two copies of the same gathering per sheet) had been used, each sheet would have yielded thirty-two leaves measuring 5 × 3⅛ inches
(13 × 8 cm) each, leaving only half an inch to be trimmed from each leaf.

Textual and other sources suggest time frames in which the individual gatherings of
the Book of Commandments were likely typeset and printed. In this regard, analyzing the
filial relationship between common texts in Revelation Book 1, the Book of Commandments,
and The Evening and the Morning Star is especially useful.24

Because the Book of Commandments and The Evening and the Morning Star share a common
source (Revelation Book 1) for many texts, and because different layers of editing within Revelation
Book 1 clearly pertain to one published version or the other, it is often possible to determine whether a
particular text was first printed in the Book of Commandments or in the Star.

Though editors of the
Book of Commandments could have started printing that volume in late April 1832 (after
the paper arrived from Virginia

) or June 1832 (when the first issue of the Star was printed),
analysis of typefaces used at the Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

JS revelations, dated 20 July and 1 Aug. 1831, directed establishment of LDS church’s first printing office in Independence, Missouri. Dedicated by Bishop Edward Partridge, 29 May 1832. Located on Lot 76, on Liberty Street just south of courthouse square....

suggests that typesetting for the
first gathering (pages 1–32) began no earlier than November 1832.25

The first six issues of The Evening and the Morning Star (June through November 1832) were printed
in two sizes of type: long primer (about 10 point) and brevier (about 8 point). Beginning with the
December 1832 issue and continuing for the remainder of the Missouri publication, the newspaper was
printed in only long primer. Because the Book of Commandments was printed in brevier size, it is likely
that the printers stopped using brevier for the newspaper in November 1832 so they could use it instead for
the Book of Commandments. While it is not known how much type the Missouri printers began the
operation with, they apparently started running out of brevier while typesetting two different gatherings
of the Book of Commandments, suggesting a supply limited enough that it
could not support two printing projects at once.

At the latest, typesetting
and printing began in December 1832, the month a notice in the Star stated that the Book
of Commandments was “now Printing” and would “be published as soon as the Lord
will.”26

Notice, The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1832, [8]. JS noted in his journal on 1 December 1832
that he “wrote and corrected revelations.” If typesetting for the Book of Commandments did not begin
until at least November 1832, a proof of the first gathering probably could not have been printed and
delivered to Ohio in time for JS to be reviewing it on 1 December. (JS, Journal, 1 Dec. 1832.)

The second gathering (pages 33–64) was of course printed after the first, meaning after
December 1832. Moreover, independent textual evidence definitively places the typesetting
date of the second gathering after September 1832.27

A comparison of the different layers of editing marks in Revelation Book 1 clearly indicates that
Revelation, September 1830–A [D&C 29], was typeset for the September 1832 issue of The Evening and the
Morning Star before it was typeset for chapter 29 of the Book of Commandments, which begins on page
61, in the second gathering, and continues into the third.

The third gathering (pages 65–96)
was printed sometime after January 1833 and before circa May 1833.28

JS revelations, dated 20 July and 1 Aug. 1831, directed establishment of LDS church’s first printing office in Independence, Missouri. Dedicated by Bishop Edward Partridge, 29 May 1832. Located on Lot 76, on Liberty Street just south of courthouse square....

Editing marks in Revelation Book 1 indicate that Revelation, 30 August 1831 [D&C 63], was typeset
for the February 1833 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star before it was typeset for chapter 64 of the
Book of Commandments, which is in the fifth gathering.

By mid-1833, a reported seven individuals were working in the Independence

Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. Point of departure for Santa Fe Trail. Population in 1831 about 300. Mormon population by summer...

JS revelations, dated 20 July and 1 Aug. 1831, directed establishment of LDS church’s first printing office in Independence, Missouri. Dedicated by Bishop Edward Partridge, 29 May 1832. Located on Lot 76, on Liberty Street just south of courthouse square....

and were likely close to completing their work on the Book of Commandments. On
13 February 1833, W. W. Phelps & Co. filed for a copyright on the book, depositing a copy
of the title page with the federal district court in Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

The original copyright registration has not been located. A certified copy was made in 1921 by H. C.
Geisberg. (Woodford, “Development of the Doctrine and Covenants,” 1:31; Wheaton and Wheaton, Book of Commandments Controversy Reviewed, 52–53.)

Revelation Book 1 / “A Book of
Commandments and Revelations of the Lord Given to Joseph the Seer and Others by
the Inspiration of God and Gift and Power of the Holy Ghost Which Beareth
Re[c]ord of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost Which Is One God Infinite and
Eternal World without End Amen,” 1831–1835. CHL. Also available in Robin Scott
Jensen, Robert J. Woodford, and Steven C. Harper, eds., Manuscript
Revelation Books, facsimile edition, first volume of the Revelations
and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by
Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City:
Church Historian’s Press, 2009).

French explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Northeastern portion maintained as part of Connecticut, 1786, and called Connecticut Western...

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

The same letter gave minor corrections
to chapters 40 and 44 of the Book of Commandments.35

JS et al., Kirtland, OH, to Edward Partridge et al., Independence, MO, 25 June 1833, JS Collection, CHL. The corrections were as follows: “The following errors we have found in the commandments
as printed 40th Chap 10th verse third line, instead of corruptable put corrupted 14 verse of the same chapter
5th line instead of respecter to persons, put respecter of persons, 21st verse 2nd line of the same chapter,
instead of respecter to, put respecter of 44 Chapter 12 verse last line, instead of hands, put heads.” In the
Woodruff copy of the Book of Commandments (featured herein), these corrections are marked in an
unidentified hand.

Inasmuch as chapter 44 ends
on page 96 and the book was being printed on gatherings comprising thirty-two pages
each, these corrections suggest that JS and his associates in Ohio had probably received
copies of the first three gatherings of the volume, either to proofread or as a courtesy.36

William E. McLellin, who lived in Independence in 1833 and therefore may have had firsthand
knowledge of some details of the printing operation, later stated that the Missouri editors sent a gathering
of the Book of Commandments to Kirtland for correction. (William E. McLellin, Independence, MO, to Joseph Smith III, [Plano, IL], July 1872, typescript, Letters and Documents Copied from Originals in the Office of the Church Historian, Reorganized Church, CHL.)

McLellin, William E. Letter, Independence, MO, to Joseph Smith
III, [Plano, IL], July 1872. Letters and Documents Copied from
Originals in the Office of the Church Historian, Reorganized Church,
no date. Typescript. CHL. Original at CCLA.

The
corrections, however, arrived in Missouri too late to be incorporated into the printed volume.37

Letters could take anywhere from about ten days to a month to make the journey
between northeastern Ohio and Independence

Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. Point of departure for Santa Fe Trail. Population in 1831 about 300. Mormon population by summer...

The delay in communication between JS and those printing the
revelations prevented JS from maintaining a close supervisory role over the press. That JS
saw advance sheets of the Book of Commandments, however, indicates Phelps

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...

French explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Northeastern portion maintained as part of Connecticut, 1786, and called Connecticut Western...

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

regarding the printing of the Book of Commandments
was given 2 July 1833. On that date, in response to a letter of 7 June that is no longer extant,
JS and counselors Sidney Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

sent instructions for shipping
copies of the Book of Commandments to Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. Point of departure for Santa Fe Trail. Population in 1831 about 300. Mormon population by summer...

, the printing project had come to an
abrupt end. On 20 July 1833, a group of four to five hundred Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

JS revelations, dated 20 July and 1 Aug. 1831, directed establishment of LDS church’s first printing office in Independence, Missouri. Dedicated by Bishop Edward Partridge, 29 May 1832. Located on Lot 76, on Liberty Street just south of courthouse square....

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

made in a lawsuit filed against several dozen of
the vigilantes early the following year, the mob “forced open the door [to the print shop],
tore down the same, forced and tore off the roof from the said printing office[,] forced . . .
and tore down the walls of the same and then and there totally and wholly demolished tore
down and destroyed the said printing office.” Furthermore, the Missourians “seised [seized,]
tore down and forcibly took and carried aw[ay] and converted to their[—]the said defendants[—]own use a certain printing press of the plaintiffs then and there set up and in use
in the said printing office.” Phelps and Cowdery valued the printing office at three thousand
dollars and the press at five hundred dollars.40

The assailants gave the press, which
had apparently been pushed out of the second-story window and damaged in the fall, to
Robert Kelly and William Davis, who used it beginning in early January 1834 to publish a
newspaper in Liberty

Located in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...

Missouri Writers’ Project, Missouri, 108; JS History, vol. A-1, 412. One author has tracked the press
to mid- and late-nineteenth-century newspapers published in Colorado and New Mexico. (Gladden, “An Early Printing Press Used in Colorado.”)

Several Latter-day Saints were able to save sheets of the unbound Book of Commandments,
and copies were later individually bound for private use. It is unclear how many
copies were saved and bound, but fewer than three dozen are currently known to exist. Also
unclear is how those who saved the sheets from the attackers were able to salvage sheets
from all five gatherings. Inside the print shop

JS revelations, dated 20 July and 1 Aug. 1831, directed establishment of LDS church’s first printing office in Independence, Missouri. Dedicated by Bishop Edward Partridge, 29 May 1832. Located on Lot 76, on Liberty Street just south of courthouse square....

, each sheet would have been placed in an uncollated stack, with one stack for each gathering, meaning that the salvagers would have
had to hurriedly gather a sample from each of the stacks after the stacks were thrown from
the print shop.42

For an overview of folding and collating practices of the time, see Gaskell, New Introduction to Bibliography, 6, 143–145.

If the process of folding and collating the sheets had already begun, however,
it would have been easier to collect all five sheets.43

Another possible explanation for why so many volumes contain all five sheets is that a small number
of advance copies may have been nearly completed, in which case it is possible that the majority of the
surviving copies come from this advance collation. A David Whitmer reminiscence suggests as much,
though he evidently misunderstood or misremembered what state the volume was in when he received it:
“I received my Book of Commandments, complete before the press was destroyed by the mob, as did
many other brethren.” It is also possible that those gathering sheets collected many redundant sheets that
were later discarded after complete volumes were assembled. (Whitmer, Address to Believers in the Book of Mormon, 5.)

27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...

The scarcity of the volume likely contributed to church leaders’
prompt renewal of interest in printing a compilation of revelations—an objective that would
not be realized until the 1835 publication of the Doctrine and Covenants in Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

A
Book of Commandments, for the Government of the
Church of Christ, Organized according to Law, on the
6th of April,
1830; Zion
[Independence

Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. Point of departure for Santa Fe Trail. Population in 1831 about 300. Mormon population by summer...

], MO: W. W. Phelps & Co.,
1833; incomplete
(printing interrupted); [1]–160 pp.; includes typeset
signature marks and copyright notice. The copy presented
herein is held at CHL; includes twenty-two pages of
handwritten texts; also includes early and later
marginalia as well as archival stamps and notations.

This
book was printed in sextodecimo format on five sheets. The
sheets were probably printed using a work-and-turn
technique, yielding two copies of the same gathering for
each sheet. The sheets were folded into five gatherings of
sixteen leaves each, making a text block of 160 pages. In
the copy of the book featured herein, three nonprinted
gatherings were also bound with the printed gatherings: two
folio gatherings of two leaves each, and an octavo gathering
of eight leaves, which includes the back pastedown. The
pages of the book featured herein measure 4½ × 3⅛ inches (11
× 8 cm), but these dimensions vary somewhat in other extant
copies of the volume. The book’s final printed gathering
ends on page 160, partway through the revelation labeled
“CHAPTER LXV.” That at least one more gathering was intended
is evident from several sources, including editing marks
made in Revelation Book 1, which was the source text for
much of the Book of Commandments.1

Changes made during printing resulted in variations among
known copies of the Book of Commandments, the most obvious
of which are the differences found on the title page.2

The title
page of the Book of Commandments appears in two
different formats, the first
without a decorative
border. Sometime during the printing, a
border was inserted,
forcing the compositor to compress the spaces between
and within the lines of text. For photographs of the two
iterations, see JSP,
R2:13, 600. A systematic analysis of printing
variants among extant copies of the Book of Commandments
is beyond the scope of this
edition.

Because
destruction of the print shop halted printing and destroyed
most of the stock before any books were bound, the bindings
of the surviving copies vary. The copy presented herein,
which belonged to early church member and leader Wilford Woodruff

, measures
4½ × 3¼ × ⅞ inches (11 × 8 × 2 cm). The cover is made from
heavy paperboard material and bound in brown leather, which
is now worn. In both the material and the manner of binding,
the binding is similar to that of Woodruff’s first journal,
which was begun sometime in late 1834, suggesting both books
were bound at the same time.3

The thread
used in sewing the volume is visible along the spine of the
book. A slip of blue-lined paper, measuring 1⅞ × 2⅛ inches
(5 × 5 cm), is pasted to the outside front cover of this
copy of the Book of Commandments. “No. 1” is written in red
ink on this label, and an additional notation, reading “Book
of Commandments”, is written in graphite. On the inside
front cover, a notation written in black ink in Thomas Bullock

’s handwriting
reads “Presented to the | Historian’s Office | by Wilford
Woodruff | July 19 [18]54”. In the center of the same page,
a library notation that was written in ink but has since
been erased reads “No 904”. The recto of the front flyleaf
bears a notation in graphite, apparently in Woodruff’s
handwriting: “Wilford | Woodruff | Woodruff”. On this same
page, a stamp applied sideways in purple ink reads
“HISTO[RI]AN’S OFFICE. | Chur[ch] of Jesus Christ | of
Latter-day Saints.” The same stamp appears on the copyright
page three pages later, at the bottom of page 60, and on the
inside back cover. The flyleaf’s verso bears several
inscriptions: Woodruff’s signature (with the first name
spelled “Willford”) in black ink near the top of the page;
“Tuskalusa | Allabama” in graphite in the middle of the
page; and “6” followed by an illegible character, both
written sideways in black ink roughly three-quarters down
the page. On eleven of the twelve blank leaves he bound into
the back of this book, Woodruff copied the remaining text of
the partially printed chapter 65, another revelation,
and several hymns.4

He
appears to have retained this volume until he donated it
to the Church Historian’s Office on 19 July 1854. Library
markings indicate the volume has remained in continuous
church custody.6

“1303” is written in black ink on the bottom of
page [3]. This number corresponds to an entry made
sometime after 1930 in an early Church Historian’s
Office catalog book. In addition, the Church
Historian’s Office stamp used to mark several pages
of the volume appears to have been in use in the
late nineteenth century and possibly in the early
twentieth century. (“Library Record,”
book no.
1303.)